views:

61

answers:

4

Hi,

It seems like not so long ago that it was standard to have icons/images in context menus and Microsoft seems to keep this up. But nowadays it seems to have disappeared in other apps: Chrome, iTunes etc. Anyone have an opinion / idea why this has happened or is it just completely personal taste (I for one like the images).
A.

A: 

On a desktop, icons/images are a good idea - they are easier to distinguish at a quick glance than text.

On a mobile (small screen size) platform they are bad as they are worse looking and thus harder to distinguish/udnerstand in lower resolution AND take up precious screen real estate.

DVK
A: 

Microsoft, Google, and Apple all have different styles to begin with, so I'm not sure your examples are good comparisons.

In recent years, Microsoft has been changing to "reduce clutter" (e.g., the underlines indicating keyboard mnemonics are often turned off unless you're actively using the keyboard). Their UI guidelines are updated with each OS release. But even their stuff doesn't strictly follow their own guidelines, partly because there's too much to revise.

Adrian McCarthy
+1  A: 

There's definitely been a trend towards leaner user interfaces with less doodahs. Context menus however are special, it is difficult to come up with good icons. Context menu commands are invariably verbs. Icons show objects, they are nouns. Suggesting action in an icon isn't easy to do well with so few pixels to work with.

Personally, I never pay attention to them, usually because I can't figure out what they mean. The Visual Studio 2010 View menu is a rather good example of this. Too many, not distinctive enough.

Hans Passant
+2  A: 

I think the reason icons have appeared less in programs is because developers are learning that icons are just not as useful as they used to think.

The idea behind putting icons in menus is that the user can see the icon alongside a textual description, and will be able to recognize it on a button in the future. However, in order to learn the meaning of an icon, the user first has to search through various drop-down or context menus to find the function they need.

Also, having lots of icons all over the place just adds clutter. That's why Microsoft redesigned the GUI interface in Office 2007. Not to mention that most people would rather memorize a keyboard shortcut than a button icon.

Letting people associate functionality with a word or name is better than an icon, because it's often easier to remember or understand. Also, you can't type an icon. As it turns out, being able to type something very useful. You can search for it in help files and on the internet, and you can explain it to someone else. And, there's this:

Mac OSX's help menu:

alt text

The new alpha release of Blender:

alt text

Gnome Do:

alt text

Autocomplete is an extremely powerful tool in terms of usability. I wish more applications incorporated it.

Heck, as developers, you've probably used an IDE with autocompletion (such as Visual Studio's Intellisense). Not to mention IM clients like Digsby and Adium.

So, basically, icons used to appear in menus so the user could learn their meaning. However, requiring the user to memorize and recognize icons is unnecessary. You should try to only use icons when the meaning of the icon is self-evident and requires no memorization.

BernzSed
`Not to mention that most people would rather memorize a keyboard shortcut than a button icon.` I'm not sure this is true for average users (moreover I'd like to see the stats that suggest this). Also the OP was referring specifically to context menu's where there is always accompanying text so your searchability argument is somewhat void.
Ron Warholic
Indeed and with blooming functionality it will always be the job of the graphic designer to come up with an image to represent some abstract concept which could take a while, whereas the programming of the functionality could be done in a jiffy.
Andrew White
+1 for lots of screen shots ;-). Even Windows 7 has finally gotten rid of many toolbar icons and replaced them with simple text. It's refreshing, lets you focus on your work.
Jeff Wilcox